007 Travelogue: Las Vegas (USA) 2023: “I hear that the Hotel Tropicana is quite comfortable”

007 Travelogue: Las Vegas (USA) 2023: “I hear that the Hotel Tropicana is quite comfortable”

July 29, 2024 0 By 007 Travelers

If you want to read our “Los Angeles, Malibu, Palm Springs” 007 Travelogue first, click here

Bond locations of this 007 Travelogue:

Las Vegas airport

Hotel Tropicana

Fremont Street

Viva Las Vegas! Our first full day in Vegas started with breakfast at the Bellagio hotel’s Sadelle’s Café restaurant (not included in the room rate, which seems to be pretty standard at least in Las Vegas.)

We grabbed our suitcases and headed to the airport, but we weren’t about to board the flight. 🙂

Las Vegas Airport

In “Diamonds are Forever” (1971), Bond (Sean Connery) follows smuggled diamonds and observes who picks them up from a locker at the Las Vegas airport. Back then the airport was called McCarran Airport, now Harry Reid International Airport. Changes have been made both inside and outside the field. The lockers where you can leave your belongings have been removed after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Even from the outside the parking lots etc. are very different than before. Today the parking garage is a multi-story building, and the place in front of the former main doors where Bond parks his Ford Mustang in the movie has also changed.

Mika and Pirita / 007 Travelers

Watching diamonds 🙂

Hollywood Cars Museum & Liberace Garage

Noon had come and the sun was burning hot again. We parked our car at 5115 Dean Martin Dr #905, home to the Hollywood Cars Museum & Liberace Garage. Here you can find a great collection of not only of Bond cars but also many other movie-related vehicles. Admission to the museum is $20 per adult (under 16 years free). Payment is in cash only.

BSA A65 Lightning from “Thunderball” (1965)

Aston Martin V8 Vantage from “The Living Daylights” (1987) and “No Time to Die” (2021)

KITT from “Knight Rider

More photos from the exhibition here

Tropicana Hotel & Casino


Before moving to our own hotel, we visited “Bond’s hotel”, i.e. Tropicana Hotel & Casino. In “Diamonds Are Forever“, Bond says “I hear that the Hotel Tropicana is quite comfortable”. His room in the hotel is 831.

Paradise Tower, the first hotel tower of Tropicana Hotel & Casino, was completed in 1957 and has 21 floors. The 22-story Island Tower was finished in 1986.

We managed to visit the hotel just before it was to close, and the closing date was announced as April 2, 2024. Finally, the Tropicana will be blown up sometime in 2024. A new stadium for the baseball team Athletics will be built on the site. The team’s current home field is located in Oakland, California.

James Bond (Sean Connery), Morton Slumber (David Bauer) and Shady Tree (Leonard Barr) in “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971)
Photo © EON, United Artists, Danjaq, LLC

More photos of Tropicana Hotel & Casino here

Trump International Hotel Las Vegas

Then it was time to check into our second hotel in Vegas, and that was the 64-story, five-star Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. The excellent service started right from the front door, demonstrated by free valet parking. Our car was taken to the parking lot and we checked ourselves in, taking our things to the room. Then, of course, we went to the swimming pool section located on the seventh floor of the hotel, which was really pleasant on a hot summer day. The choice of hotel is not related to any kind of political opinion one way or the other, but we chose the hotel based on its good reviews. In addition, the location was suitable for us, and there were no bugs or disturbances reported. Here you can also find one of the fastest elevators in the USA, it was quite a ride! It was also exciting to see how extravagantly decorated the interior and the entire hotel was: gilding, crystals and bling-bling. We had dinner in the hotel’s own restaurant where everyone paused their meal and the waiters stopped their work when Trump himself stepped into the lobby. He had some kind of conference in Las Vegas so we stayed under the same roof. The number of security guards was high, the agents with earplugs were running around the hotel. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

Accommodation: Trump International Hotel Las Vegas

Address: 2000 Fashion Show Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Room type: Deluxe Two Queen Beds

Price: 398,83 EUR / 2 nights / 3 persons

Booking: Via @- hotels

Fremont Street

In the evening, we visited Fremont Street where the famous chase scene for “Diamonds Are Forever” was filmed. Today, the street is covered and the Fremont Street Experience is available to tourists there. People can “fly” over Fremont Street on wires, and the finest works of art are projected on the ceiling with LEDs while the music complements the atmosphere. On Fremont Street you can also find the most diverse artists trying to attract potentially paying tourists.

The street corners familiar from “Diamonds Are Forever” were already quite difficult to recognize…

The Heart Attack Grill can also be found on Fremont Street. It is a “hospital themed restaurant”. Customers weighing more than 160 kilograms can eat for free. There is a scale by the door. The restaurant deliberately serves extremely unhealthy junk food that contains loads of fat, sugar and cholesterol which, if eaten often, can increase the risk of a heart attack. Every customer or “patient” puts on a hospital gown and wristband before ordering, and those who don’t finish their order get a whipping from the waitress, better known as a nurse.

On the next day, e.g. “Circus, Circus”… click here